This past week has been tough, since my boyfriend was visiting from out of town and my routine was out the window. I’ve gained just a little, and I hope that by being careful, I can be back on track by next weigh-in (Thursday). I’m starting to face my usual problem though - time to go to the gym. The stressful part of the semester has begun and time is in short supply.
PAH. Even with directions, you’d end up in Delaware.
Either that or I would see something shiny along the road and stop there to build a new life…
Which reminds me. Jayjay is home from work today and so we will actually make it to the gym 4 times this week! Had to stay on topic somehow…
Boy, it’s both irritating and simultaneously fun, somehow, to figure out just what you can and can’t do. Definitely no Taco Bell, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have tacos! Whole-grain corn tortillas, ground turkey, and just a bit of reduced-fat cheese and sour cream made a delicious meal for me tonight. Then I tossed in some Tostito’s restaurant-style tortilla chips for a side. Serving size ~ 7 chips … looks a bit anemic, I can probably afford two servings, throw in seven more … enter everything in my meal tracking database, just to see where I stand … put the extra seven chips back in the bag. 
At least I checked before I ate. The numbers aren’t actually that bad, but everything can add up quick, and I wanted to save room for a small snack later (spread out those calories!). And it actually turned out to be a very satisfying meal. And I know the right serving size for next time. (Keep adding options to that database!)
And … the chunky salsa is ~ free. 
I need to buy a new jar, though, now. Or two. 
I just finished making a Weight Watchers chili for the slow cooker. Its safely in the fridge, ready to cook tomorrow. And, even better, I’ll have additional servings to put in the freezer for other days.
Here’s something I made on a whim tonight for dinner. It’s quick, healthy and if I don’t mind saying so, delicious! (Assuming you like tuna casserole… Hearkening to the other thread from Cafe Society where some folks expressed disgust at adding dairy with seafood for some reason.)
The recipe, with approximate nutritional values of ingredients:
2 bags of “10 Minute Success” brown rice (approx. 4 cups cooked)
= 600 cal, 30g fat, 132g carbs, 16g protein
2 6 oz. cans of chunk white tuna in water
= 300 cal, 5g fat, 0g carbs, 65g protein
1 med/large yellow onion, diced
= 50 cal, 0.25g fat, 13g carbs, 1.75g protein
1 med ripe red tomato
= 22 cal, 0g fat, 5g carbs, 1g protein
1 10 oz. pack of frozen Bird’s Eye mixed vegetables
= 210 cal, 0g fat, 42g carbs, 7g protein
1.5 oz Kraft 2% milk sharp cheddar cheese
= 120 cal, 9g fat, 0g carbs, 10.5g protein
1.5 oz Finlandia Light swiss cheese
= 120 cal, 6.75g fat, 0.75 carbs, 10.5g protein
1 tsp. olive oil
= 45 cal in 5g of fat
Spices: garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
Net of about 1450-1500 calories
About 18.5/50.5/31.0 % of calories from fat, carbs and protein.
Makes 4 servings of about 375 calories each.
Directions (if not obvious):
- Nuke the rice for 10 minutes per directions.
- Nuke the frozen vegetables per directions. (Let rice continue to soften a bit)
- While microwave is operating, warm non-stick pan with olive oil and garlic
- While pan is warming (to med flame), dice the onion and the tomato.
- When veggies are done, drain in a collander.
- Fry the onions in the pan for about 2 minutes
- Open the tuna cans, drain the water and add to frying pan
- After 2-3 minutes, add the veggies and tomatoes to the frying pan
- Drain the rice, add to frying pan after 2-3 minutes
- Add seasoning, stir with open pan (to let water steam off)
- After 2-3 minutes, add cheese and cover
- After 4-5 minutes, lift cover and stir
- After another 3-5 minutes, it’s done!
All told it takes about 20, maybe 25 minutes to make, since a lot of the prep tasks are parallelized.
And it’s great reheated!
Hey, I think I even have all of those ingredients! (Except the Swiss cheese. But I can’t stand Swiss cheese, so there’ll definitely be some substitution action going on.) Tomorrow. Dinner. Then a review.
robardin, I’d have to tweak that recipe a little to up the protein (more cheese?) and up the fat (scrap the low-fat cheeses, use whole instead), but tweaked like so, it would be quite appropriate for me, too, as it’s very high in protein. I love tuna for the protein count, but am always looking for something new to do with it.
Yeah, my target nutritional balance is generally something like 20/50/30 for fat/carbs/protein, though really it’s more like 25/50/25. I generally assume I’m really eating somewhat more fat than I’m numerically aware of (a bit more cheese here, a bit more oil there, etc.), so I try to keep the closest watch on my fat intake, since it comes at 9 calories/gram.
The nice thing about doing the nutritional breakdown analysis (which took me about 5 minutes since I now have a spreadsheet for it) is that makes it really easy to see where tweaking can be done. For example in addition to adding more cheese or “full fat” cheese, you could also add a bit of milk – whole, 2%, 1% or skim – to get more protein or fat. Or butter or butter substitute. Or to bring down the carb count, use frozen peas or string beans or chopped bell peppers instead of the pack of frozen mixed vegetables (which has high-carb veggies like corn and carrots), or just use less rice 
Oh, and one more thing: use white pepper as well as black pepper. Nothing like black and white pepper to flavor tuna and cheddar. Aww yeah.
Thanks for the tips, robardin. I’ve become a big fan of adding milk to up the protein in stuff. I use whole milk, since it’s lower in carbs and I don’t absorb most of the fat anyway.
OK, here goes my first day on the new program of 6-8 ~200 calorie meals.
7:00 am – 4 oz chicken breast 190 Calories (yes, I can and will eat any sort of thing for breakfast)
9:30 am – Plain Oatmeal (with a packet of sweetner) 150 Calories
Noon – boiled Shrimp, 4 oz. 2 cups field greens, LF Ceasar Dressing 190 Calories
3 PM – 1 oz mixed nuts 170 Calories
5:30 – 4 oz Tilapia, 1 c. Broccoli Rabe, 1 tsp butter 204
8:30 – 1 Apple and string cheese 165
Also a couple of cups of coffee with half and half and my total for the day is 1205 calories according to LifeForm. 116 g. protein, 81 g carbs, 51 g fat.
Seems like I could use more veggies though, and maybe another serving of fruit. I have to go make my oatmeal now.
One thing you could do is maybe add some fresh or frozen berries to your oatmeal. Also, a snack some other time during the day of some low-cal crunchy veggies (carrot sticks?) with a little low fat dressing or dip might help.
Thanks. Those are both very good ideas. I’m heading to BJ’s after work today so I’ll pick up some berries and veggies.
I used to think that I ate plenty of vegetables then I signed on to this fitness challenge at work and one of the requirements was at least 4 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. I had to really think about it to make sure I got the minimum and yet I love vegetables. I can’t think of a vegetable that I won’t eat (but there are a few that I don’t eat often like lima beans).
Hello? :tap, tap, tap: is this thing on?
I’m just checking in to say that I believe yesterday was a successful test of my new eating regime and I’m back to it again today. At the end of the day I ended up with a couple of substitutions because I didn’t go to the grocery store but I think the calorie count was still well within the range that I was looking for.
I was never hungry for long and never felt like I was starving but I also never felt stuffed like I’d over eaten. That was good.
And today I’m back down to 173.5 which is where I was last week so
How’s everyone doing?
:bump:
Well, I only weigh once a month, so numbers-wise, I won’t know for a few more weeks. But I’ve been pretty good about exercising for at least a half an hour, at least three times a week (more if you count sex, which WW used to say you could 
).
I did end up getting a whole new spring wardrobe last week, for free. I went to visit one of my sisters, who’s put on a few pounds in the last couple of years. I walked out of there with two pairs of jeans, two pairs of dress pants, four warm-weather shirts, three dresses, and three jackets! Score.
Gonna start a March thread?
I’ll do it.
To keep this thread from growing too large norinew has opened the march issue of the club. Good luck losing.
As this is technically a February loss, I’m going to post my most recent weigh-in here.
As of Tuesday, Feb. 27, I weighed 267 lbs.
That’s down 1.6 lbs from last week, for a total loss of 34 lbs!
I got surprised with my NutriSystem order this month–they sent me two stuffed bears, one for 10 lbs. lost and another for 20 lbs! If they send one for every 10 pounds, then I should get another one with my next shipment. It was a really fun surprise and so very encouraging!
See you next week in the March thread!
Carla
301/267/140